Construction of bodies of flying-boats and like light vessels



H. SCOTT-PAINE.

CONSTRUCTION 0F BODIES oF FLYING BOATS AND LIKE LIGHT vEssELs.

APPLICATION FILED APR. l0. |920..

1,393,645. Pand ont 11, 1921;

4 SHEETS-SHEET I.

H. SCOTT-PAINE. CONSTRUCTION 0F BODIES 0F FLYING BOATS AND LIKE LIGHTVESSELS.

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1,393,645. Patented Oct. 11,1921.

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H. SCOTT-PAINE.

coNsmucTloN 0F BoDlEs 0F FLYING Bons AND LIKE LIGHT vEssELs. APPLICATIONAFILED APR. l0, |920.

1 ,393,645. Patented Oct. 11, 1921.

4 SHEETS- SHEET 3.

H. SCOTT-PAINE. CONSTRUCTION 0F BODIES 0F FLYING BOATS AND LIKE LIGHTVESSELS. APPLICATION l'lLED APR. 10. 1920.

1,393,645. Pantea 001. 11, 1921.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

UNITED, STATES PATENT OFFICE.Y

HUBERT SCOTT-PAINE, OF SOUTHHAMPTON, ENGLAND.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 1p1, 1921.

Application led April 10, 1920. Serial No. 373,365.

To all whom z' may concern.' Y y Be it known that I, HUBERT SOOTT-PAINE,a subject of the King of lilngland, residing at Southhampton, in thecounty of Hants, England, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements inl the Construction of Bodies of Flying-.Boatsand likeLight Vessels, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is for improvements in or relating to the hulls of flyingboats` and like light vessels and has for its object toprovide an.improved construction which while of adequate strength isextremelylight. Further, the construction is such that the hull iscapable of resilient distortion so that when alighting on the water, orwhen subject to other forces, the hull can spring or yield therebymaterially reducing the eifect of the shock. Also the constructionissuch as to allow the maximumspace in the interior of thehull forcarrying capacity.

kAccording `to this invention, the body of a flying boat or like lightvessel is built up of longitudinal stringere set edgewise, hoop-timbersformed as a `continuous spiral inside said stringers extending acrossand securedv to all/ of them, bent-,timbers outside thestringers andalso secured to all of them and a skin or covering outside thebenttimbers, there being no internal cross frames or stiifening membersin the body.

The skin-covering preferably consists of planking arranged diagonally or`longitudinally, or both, and it is secured to the stringers orbent-timbers.` Y Y,

Preferably the 'stringere are recessed at their outer edges to receivethe whole depth of the bent-timbers within them. The skinplankingpreferably is made in portions of such dimensions that each portionextends from one Stringer to ,the next adjacent Stringer and ,thereabuts the next succeeding portion, both portions being secured to theouter edge of the same Stringer. H

According to another feature of the invention the skin-planking isyattachedy to the body framework so that each strip extends diagonallyfrom one Stringer to the next adjacent lStringer and there abutsendwisethe succeeding portion outside the said bent timbers ,nd secured to thestringers and bent timbers. l g A `According to another feature of theinvention, arsecond4 skin-planking formed under' the; hull from a sidewing on oneside of the body to a side wing on the other Side of thebody.

In the accompanying drawings, which'illustrate the application of thisinvention to a flying-boat-hull,

Figure l is a half-section on a plane trans verse to the longitudinalaxis of the hull;

F ig. 2 shows a portion of Fig. l to a larger scale; Y Y

vl? ig. 8 is a perspective view showing a method of attaching a sidewing to the hull; n Fig. 4 is a partial side elevation showing the frameof a boat with a fabric skin atl tached, and p F ig. 5 is a lperspectiveview of a partof the hull showing the spiral formation of thehoop-timbers'.

` Like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the drawings.

Referring to Figs. l and 2, the hull of the flying boat is of anapproximately oval or egg-,shaped cross-section.l Itis built up of asuitable number of longitudinal stringere l0 spaced apart around thecurve of the section, the keelson ll at the bottom constituting one 0fthe stringers or being similar to them. f

The stringere l0 are set edgewise so as to radiate or approximatelyradiate vfrom the centerL line of the hull. Inside the stringers andsecured to all of them are timbers 12 which are in the form of hoops andwill be referred to as hoopstimbers. These hoop-timbers l2 extend aroundthe section of the hull, and where the section is closed, they arepreferably arranged as a continuous spiral. Vhere there is an opening inthe upper part of the hull, as at the cock-pit, these timbers areseparate from one another and extend from one edge of the cock-pitaround the lower part of the hull up to the other edge. In all cases,however, they are secured to the inner edges of all the stringere andtothe upper edge of the keelson. The hoop-timbers may be spaced somewhatclosely together so as to provide a practically continuous surface onthe interior of the hull, thereby avoiding completely g.

the necessity for the provision of a continu- 'ous skin orf deck.

The outer edges of the longitudinal stringers are recessed at 13 toreceive the encircling timbers 14 which are referredto' as bent-timbers,and these are suitably secured to each of the stringere and also to theouter or lower surface of the keel which lies under the keelson.

The skin-planking for the hull, which may Vbe arranged diagonally, orlongitudinally,

or both, is made up in short sections 15 which are of such a length thatthey extend from a Stringer 10 to the next adjacent Stringer, and form abutt joint, which is covered by the stringerinside with the next sectionor portion of planking. Each Stringer 10 therefore has secured to it thetwo ends of adjacent sections of skin-planking. Obviously theskin-planking may also be secured to the bent-timbers 14, either wherethey lie Within the recesses 13 in the stringers or elsewhere if itshould be so desired.

Where the regular outline or contour of the hull is to be varied byprojections such as side wings or steps, these projections areVpreferably formed separately and are built on to the outside of thecontinuous skinplanking of the hull proper. Such a projection isillustrated in Fig. 2 where a projection is shown as formed by a chine16 supported upon suitable frame-members V17, 18. These frame-membersare secured either directly to the hull, or to longitudinal mem bers 19secured thereto outside the skin plankingfl. The projection itself islprovided with a suitable skin-planking 20 and may be reinforced as toits internal structure by struts 21.or bulkheads 22.

Generally there will be no objection to the use of bulkheads or framesfor giving the requisite strength or stiffness to these wings, sinceVthe space in the interior thereof is not accessible from the interior ofthe hull` and is therefore of no particular value as space. Preferablythe skin-planking 20 on the underside of the projection is continuedright around the bottom of the hull to meet the similar planking fromthe corresponding projection on the other side.

Figs. 3 and 4t show a modified construction for the attachment of a sidewing to the hull. F ig. 3 shows a portion of the frame of theboatnearer1 the bow where the lateral projection or wing is of a differentsection. The wing is built with longitudinal stringers 23 similar to themain stringers 10, and these have secured upon themy timbers 24 which'are similar to thebent-timbers 14 andare secured to the main stringers10 intermediatel of them. Bulkheads 25 may be provided Where desired.This construction differs from that previously described in that theskin-planking of the hull. proper is continued out over the side wing orstep, but if desired the space within the sidewing may beshut off fromthe interior of the hull bymeansfof a fabric or other similar'skin.

This modification is shown in Fig/1 Vwhere fa fabric covering 26 is'securedpon the outJ side of thebenttimbers Hand. stringersl,

being perforated at 27 to permit the addi-V ional timbers 24 to passthrough it.

`When it is desired to reduce the weight of the hull to the greatestpossible extent, the skin-planking 15 on the hull is omitted either inthe construction 'illustrated in Fig. 2 or the construction illustratedin Fig. 3 and a fabric covering as Shown in Fig. 1 is used.

The benefit of this fabric skin is that the hull is maintainedwater-tight even although the Wing may be perforated or damaged. ThecloseA spacing of the benttimbers and stringers .provides suilicientsupport for the fabric to be a satisfactory kwater-tight skin in casesof emergency. j'

Additional longitudinal members 28 (see Fig.,1) Vsimilar to thestringersmay be provided in the main hull, where desired for any specialpurpose, as for example at the point 0f attachment ofl a side wingto thehull, where-such pointof attachment does not coincide with a regularStringer 10.

Referring again Vto Fig. 1, if it is desired to provide for exceptionalstrength, the outer skin 15 may be duplicated byprovid- `ingztwo setsofpla-nking; arranged at an angle to one anotherand in anothermodification a fabric-skin may be stretched over vthe skin-planking ofthe hull,rwhether it is single or double, being securelyk cementedthereto. Where the skin-planking is double the-fabric may be interposedbetween the twolayersof planking. l

1t will beseen that this .construction provides a body or hullin whichno transverse bulkheads or structures are used, so that the maximumamount of spaceis available inside the hull for any purpose to which, itmay be desired topputit, and this result is achieved without sacrificingany ,of the strength of the hull, but it is'in fact accompanied by anradditional resilience of the hull which is particularly advantageouslfor flyingboats and like vessels.

2. In aV body ffor flying-boats land `like light vessels, thecombination of longitudinal stringers set edgewise, hoop timbers formed,as alcontinuous spiral` inside said stringers extending across andsecured to all Aof them, benty timbers outside' said stringers andsecured to all of them, and skin-planking, whereofeach strip extendsfrom one stringer to the fnextjadjacent Stringer and there abutsfendwisethe succeeding .portion What I claim as my invention and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is outside said bent timbers and secured to thestringere and bent timbers.

3. In a body for flying-boats and like light vessels, the combination oflongitudinal stringere set edgewise, hoop timbers formed as a continuousspiral inside said stringere extending across and secured to all ofthem, bent timbers outside stringers and secured to all of them, aContinuous skin-planking extending around the body, 10

side Wing structures built on to the outside of the body land includinga second skin-planking formed as a continuous sheet under the hull froma Side Wing on one side of the body to a side Wing on the other side 15of the body.

In testimon whereof I aix my signature.

IIUBERT SCOTT-PAINE.

